Side-by-side household refrigerators include a fresh food storage compartment and a freezer storage compartment. Each storage compartment has a front access opening normally closed by a fresh food door and a freezer door, respectively. The doors are mounted to the cabinet by hinge mechanisms. To ensure proper closure of each door, some known refrigerators include closure mechanisms mounted in each door separate from the hinge mechanisms. Such known closure mechanisms include a cam or cams, a spring, and a housing. As the door is opened, the spring expands so that if an operator lets go of the door, the expanded spring draws the door to a closed position.
The above described closure mechanism is difficult to install since it requires access to the interior of the door. In addition, such closure mechanism results in some energy loss due to the metal components, e.g., the spring, mounted within the door. Further, such closure mechanisms sometimes require that the refrigerator be tilted to the rear to provide assistance for door closure.
It would be desirable to provide an easy to install integral hinge and closure mechanism for a refrigerator door. Such an integral mechanism would facilitate reducing the time and costs associated with refrigerator assembly at the factory as well as simplifying the installation of a refrigerator door in a home. It also would be desirable to provide such a mechanism which is not mounted within the refrigerator door to facilitate avoiding energy loss. Further, such mechanism should not be bulky and should provide a smooth constant closure force to close a door from a fully open to a fully closed position, at least for aesthetic reasons. Also, it would be desirable to provide a closure mechanism which does not require that the refrigerator be tilted for assisting in door closure.